Almost Gone
by Shiny Hunter
Summary: In times of emergencies, what would you do? Caspian the Piplup ultimately answers this question when he sees his leader and partner, Fiore the Charamander, crumble in front of his eyes. Slight PMD:2 spoilers. One-shot. Slight Friendshipping.


**Wow.**

**I was actually scanning my story files on my computer to find this one, complete yet untouched. I don't even remember much on making it, except for a few parts xD**

**Well, as I read it over, I thought it was an okay piece to put up, so here it is! It has very slight spoilers for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2, but the reason for that is only because of one character. I didn't edit it at all, so who knows when I made this :3 I just added some author notes :D**

**DISCLIAMER: SH does NOT own Pokemon.**

* * *

"Almost Gone"

Pain. Blinding pain.

I gave a shuddering gasp, my sides throbbing as I tried to somehow soothe the pain by wrapping my two, blue flippers around me. My body was wreaked with agony as I tried to take a step forward, almost screaming out when I was able to bring my one, yellow foot down on the rocky ground. It was pain I had never experienced before in my life. Pain in which I hoped with all my heart no one had yet to feel. Yet, I had to keep going. The fight was far from over and I needed to help, even with my condition.

I lifted my head as my sea green eyes scanned over to the battlefield in which my partner, an orange lizard, was now engaging herself against the enemy in which had caused me all these wounds, Grovyle. The green gecko seemed to be only toying with us. I could see he wasn't using his full power, almost as if he was holding back from destroying us.

That angered me. It was almost weird for me to experience that said emotion as even Fiore herself told me I wasn't one to get angered easily. Still, I felt it. Oh Arceus did I feel it. It seemed as if that was the only reason that kept me from falling onto the ground and fainting, which scared me effectively. I couldn't take it having being defeated by someone who wasn't even trying. It deeply ashamed me as all these months of training myself were slowly going down the drain.

My partner, Fiore, seemed to be thinking the same thing as she released her flamethrower in a quick succession, only to have missed as Grovyle dodged with a simple leap. I could tell she was tired from the look of her azure eyes, yet her actions and quick thinking would show anyone the opposite story. I admired the Charamander's perseverance.

Trying to pull myself together and ignore the throbbing pain that seared in my body each time I moved, I began to almost run forward. Needles seem to jab at my legs each time my feet pounding against the ground, but I gritted my teeth with determination as I tried to pick an attack from my arsenal.

With the long distance between our enemy and myself, I easily choose an attack and inhaled deeply before a stream of bubbles were unleashed from my beak. The bubbles drifted rapidly to the unsuspecting outlaw, Fiore seeing my attack as she tried to distract him with a flamethrower.

A smirk curled on my beak as the bubblebeam hit their target, exploding on contact as Grovyle writhed in pain despite the terrible type match up. He quickly whirled around, leaf blades gleaming on his arms, trying to determine who attacked him.

I gave him a small salute with my flipper, enjoying the snarl that fled from his mouth. My body gave another throb, as I had to jump backwards, the green gecko slashing his blade at the spot I was recently located at. His attack left a small cut on the rock-made ground.

My heart almost stopped at the close brush with my head getting chopped off, but I dared not give my enemy the joy of seeing my fear. Contorting my face to resemble something that I could best describe anger, my beak began to glow a blinding shade of white before I dived towards the green Pokemon before me. With surprisingly agility, he only ducked as my beak missed his head. He then gave a swift punch at my stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs.

"Caspian!" I heard my partner yell. It was barely heard in my almost unconscious mind as I doubled over in pure agony. My lungs were thirsting for oxygen as I tried to fulfill their wished with large gasps, but it only seemed to make them desire more. A groan escaped my beak that I had been holding back for so long, exposing my weakness to the gecko.

Before he was able to follow along with his punch, however, I was able to give a short, hard jab with my flipper. I couldn't exactly know where, but at least I was able to hear him give grunt with pain, yet I imagined it wasn't as painful as what I was currently feeling now.

Something then knocked my feet, causing me to land on the rocky ground with a hard thud. Wrapping my flippers around the back of my head, I moaned and was reduced to lay in a curled position to soothe my agony as I could only wait for the gecko's leaf blade slitting my throat.

However, that never came.

I cracked my sea green eyes open, tears slightly blinding my visions from the pain I was currently experiencing. I could see a blur of orange and green wrestling on the ground before I was forced to close my eyes as another wave of intense pain wreaked havoc on my all ready weak body.

I knew that orange blur was Fiore. She probably had tackled the outlaw to the ground right before he was about to give one final attack on me. I had to remember to repay the Charamander and thank her for once again saving me.

As the wave of pain finally started to calm down, even with the agony that was still pumping through, I was able to look again to see how my partner was doing. I feared that when I opened them I would see a crimson puddle with Fiore lying in the middle…

I sighed with relief to find that the orange-scaled lizard was far from what I was imagining. She actually was doing a pretty good job keeping the wanted Pokemon distracted. Grovyle finally seemed as if he was using his full power to try and pry off the Charamander that was now scraping his body with her claws and biting him with her rather sharp teeth.

Gathering my strength, I used my paws to lift me to a sitting position. Pain jabbed everywhere on my body, but I gritted my beak and closed my eyes as I continued to make myself stand up. My legs were shaking as they tried to hold my weight with all the effort they had. Another shot of pain drifted up my feet to my body, causing me to give a small cry and almost fall over.

I caught myself, starting to somehow run towards Grovyle again. Adrenaline was starting to FINALLY kick in as the pain reduced greatly, making it easy for me to run now. Giving out a cry, a ran forward with new found speed, knowing how much agony this would cost me once the battle was over. My whole body seemed to be numb, as though it were slowly getting used to the pain constricting it-, which really wasn't a great thing, but I could use it for my advantage for now. Besides, once this battle was over, I could see myself fainting from losing so much energy before I could feel such a thing. But, that was the future; I had to keep my mind focus on the current task at paw.

"FIORE!" I yelled out to warn my partner, beak once again glowing to ready a Drill Peak attack. The Charamander gave me a glance, easily telling me she knew what to do before lashing out a Metal Claw onto the Grovyle's body, causing him to writhe with pain before he could actually jump away from me. I gave a small smirk, feeling a bit proud of myself to make the outlaw feel a bit of my pain as I lunged forward, feet tingling before I was propelled into the air, target right in front of me.

The Grovyle's golden eyes widened before he suddenly grabbed Fiore claw that gave one final lash, causing my partner's azure eyes to widen also. He suddenly flipped her over with ease, tossing her directly into my direction before I could stop my attack…

We collided.

I tumbled violently on the ground, grunting with pain each time a part of my body smashed into the ground until I finally came to a stop on my stomach. I coughed, dirt filling my weakened lungs before I immediately looked around for my partner, realization finally sinking into my mind as I put a flipper on my beak.

It was… wet…

"No… please no!" I yelled out, unable to continue battling as I looked around wildly. My eyes scanned everywhere, looking for my fallen partner before my gaze was locked with a pair of golden one.

Hatred filled my veins.

"YOU!" I snarled, lifting my flipper from my beak, a crimson stain on it. I struggled to get up, cringing from pain before I almost stumbled forward. Trying to ignore the feeling, the hatred and loathing filling my head seemed to be my motivation as I was able to finally stand on my two feet after a few seconds of hard work.

"Yes." He only replied with a scowl on his face. His voice sounded… vile, as though what he had done was nothing compared to something else.

It only angered me further.

"NO!" I roared again, unable to control my thoughts as I ran forward once more. "YOU WILL PAY!!"

Amazingly, the Grovyle didn't seem to be frightened by my sudden display of aggression as I raced forward to him. Instead, he narrowed his eyes with disgust before barely opening his mouth. "Big mistake pal. Your partner's time is ticking and all you want to do is fight."

I skidded to a stop.

Fiore…

"FIORE!" I suddenly yelled out, not caring to know that the outlaw had slipped away before I once again searched for the body of my friend.

My partner…

My feet padded against the ground as I whipped my head everywhere, breathing deeply. My thoughts were gone as only fear trickled into me as though I had already known what I would see…

Time froze when I found the unconscious body.

I ran forward, kneeling downward as I scanned over the Charamander's body, tears falling down my feathers as I could only embrace the immobile figure, thoughts whirling around.

"No… Oh, please no Arceus!" I wailed, feeling my body being covered by a crimson liquid as I rolled her over onto her back. I flinched when I saw a deep gash caused by my own beak.

"Fiore! Please wake up! It's me, Caspian!" I sobbed hopelessly, trying to ignore the wound as I placed my flippers on her cheeks. Tears blinded my vision as I felt no response. "FY! WAKE UP!!"

I flopped my body onto hers, trying to desperately feel some sort of heart beat as I listened intently, only hearing my own short, gasps for breathe.

…Nothing…

I shook away the thought before listening once more. She couldn't be dead! This was Fiore! She was the most determined Pokemon alive! How could one little wound bring her down?

… Nothing…

My world crumpled apart.

A thought finally went into my mind as I gave one more desperate attempt to resurrect my partner. I opened my beak, placing them gently onto her muzzle as I gave the biggest breath I could summon before letting it out onto her mouth. My flipped rested against chest as I pushed on it, trying to restart her heart- even if it was just enough to say goodbye to her…

* * *

_"What do you mean you've never heard of a rescue team!?" A voice bellowed with bewilderment and disbelief._

_"__Well… I told you I don't even remember where I came from." A patient voice said calmly, not even a hint of frustration present within its voice._

_A Piplup gave a sheepish grin on his beak before shifting his sitting position on the warm sandy beach. He scanned the unusual Charamander across from him before allowing silence to cover the two. His thoughts wandered to and fro before he opened his beak once more, "… Sorry about that."_

_The fire lizard gave a smile of her own before nodding her approval. "Don't worry, it's alright." She sighed deeply before glancing around, her gaze settling on the waves crashing on the shore with a loud roar. She didn't even seem to be scared of the substance despite the flame on her tail and the obvious fact she was a fire type. In fact, she seemed to be appealed to it and resisted to jump to her feet and go greet the water. The reason was the blue penguin watching her with curiosity._

_"__You like water?" He then commented as he studied her gaze. The Charamander gave a hum of acknowledgment before looking back at him almost reluctantly, nodding to verify her answer._

"_Really? I thought all fire type were suppose to be scared of water."_

"… _I don't see why." She then replied, a look of pondering on her face as she once again returned her attention back onto the waves. "I mean, look at their beauty? How can someone say they loathe such a magnificent thing? It's even just soothing to look at it for hours on end…"_

_Caspian gave a look of surprise at seeing the Charamander say such a thing, but smiled._

_Silence once again covered the two as the watched the waves crash against the shore, along with the setting sun that painted with sky with an array of colors, clouds slowly disappearing from sight. Soon, a herd of orange and white crabs gathered near the shore, opening their pincers as bubbles was slowly emitted from them. The two Pokemon watched with awe as it somehow blending into the nature of it all, not even wanting to question such a gorgeous thing._

_It was beautiful beyond words._

"_You know… may I ask you something?" The Piplup suddenly inquired, each word coming out slowly as though he were still pondering on what to say. The Charamander just nodded. "… Would you like to be my partner in my new rescue team?"_

_Fiore looked at him with a smile._

* * *

…_thump…_

My heart jumped as I suddenly felt a small beat on my flipper, but I continued to breathe into Fiore's mouth.

I couldn't lose her.

Time slowed each second as I was soon losing my breath, trying not to stop in fear that if I did I might lose the small beat I had just felt a few seconds ago.

…_thump…thump…thump…_

The world was gone when I felt a slow heart beat suddenly kick alive on her chest, finally stopping for breath. My beak tingled slightly, but I ignored the feeling as I laid my head against her heart, straining to hear the small beat…

…_thump thump… thump thump… thump thump…_

"FIORE!" I sobbed with joy, embracing the figure as I tried to resist squeezing her. Tears of happiness rolled down my cheeks as I slowly felt her stir under my grasps.

It was unimaginable how I felt. It was just pure bliss that no one could ruin.

Memories flashed inside my head as I suddenly lost control of my body and mind, hearing her give a strained cough. I lifted my head, watery eyes locking gazing with a pair of azure ones that were barely cracked opened.

A smile was on her muzzle.

"Hey… Caspian…" She cooed quietly before falling back to sleep.

"Fiore…" I could only whisper back before I stood back up. Tears flooded the ground before I gave a smile of my own, unable to get the thought out of my head that I almost lost her…

My friend…

My partner…

My Fiore…

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**I think I made this after a few chapter of "The Reunion" were up now that I think about it… Mmmm…**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!**

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